When a person is injured in a remote location, rescue workers often are required to hand carry the person on a stretcher to a location where an ambulance or helicopter can be reached. This is particularly true in remote locations consisting of rough terrain such as mountains, and in such circumstances the injured person would be exposed to the elements until the emergency rescue vehicle could be reached. A patient rescue bag for this purpose is described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,604, issued Feb. 7, 1995, and in my pending patent application Ser. No. 11/343,438 filed Jan. 31, 2006 entitled Improved Patient Rescue Bag. The disclosure of both of these documents are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Rescue bags such as these are put to use in increasingly hostile environments, such as by the military or high altitude climbing expeditions. In these situations, an injured person may have to be held at one location for a significant period of time until it is safe for a transport vehicle to arrive on the scene or may be suffering from hypothermia. In such cases, it is desirable to be able to cover the patient's head securely while maintaining the ability to access any part of the patient's body for diagnosis or treatment.
One patient rescue bag may be used in differing situations or seasons, making it desirable to have the option of a head covering without it being in the way when not needed.